Scientific-Atlanta will develop, manufacture, incorporate, and market and license large integrated chips based on the microSPARC-II core. Scientific-Atlanta is scheduled to deliver up to 550,000 Explorer 2000 terminals to Time Warner Cable, while Toshiba America Inc. and Pioneer are scheduled to provide the remaining terminals.

Sun's microSPARC-II processor is an implementation of the SPARC V8 standard processor architecture which targets embedded applications with high integration. With a DRAM controller and an SBus I/O controller integrated on-board, designers only need DRAM and SBus peripherals to complete the system. The microSPARC core's open-platform enables Scientific-Atlanta to port the PowerTV operating system which enables graphics, audio, and data management within the terminal.

One of the key features of the Explorer 2000 terminal, enabled by the microSPARC-II core, will be its "real time reverse." This is a built-in reverse path transmitter that communicates back to the headend--the control center of a cable TV system--in real-time for two-way services, such as Internet access and eventually video on-demand.

The Scientific-Atlanta chip will include the microSPARC-II core, MPEG-2 system demultiplex, network interface processing and SCTE/CableLabs standard decryption engine, and I/O interfaces, among other functions.